Head to head · Boys' names
Charles vs Maverick
#48 vs #49 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Charles is a whisker ahead (#48 vs #49 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Charles leads 5 measures of 6; Maverick leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Charles #5, Maverick — — Charles higher
- 1890s: Charles #5, Maverick — — Charles higher
- 1900s: Charles #6, Maverick — — Charles higher
- 1910s: Charles #7, Maverick — — Charles higher
- 1920s: Charles #5, Maverick — — Charles higher
- 1930s: Charles #6, Maverick — — Charles higher
- 1940s: Charles #8, Maverick — — Charles higher
- 1950s: Charles #10, Maverick #1049 — Charles higher
- 1960s: Charles #17, Maverick #2443 — Charles higher
- 1970s: Charles #24, Maverick #3861 — Charles higher
- 1980s: Charles #33, Maverick #2885 — Charles higher
- 1990s: Charles #44, Maverick #999 — Charles higher
- 2000s: Charles #58, Maverick #679 — Charles higher
- 2010s: Charles #55, Maverick #230 — Charles higher
- 2020s: Charles #50, Maverick #43 — Maverick higher
Charles stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Maverick took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Charles | Maverick |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #5 | — |
| 1890s | #5 | — |
| 1900s | #6 | — |
| 1910s | #7 | — |
| 1920s | #5 | — |
| 1930s | #6 | — |
| 1940s | #8 | — |
| 1950s | #10 | #1049 |
| 1960s | #17 | #2443 |
| 1970s | #24 | #3861 |
| 1980s | #33 | #2885 |
| 1990s | #44 | #999 |
| 2000s | #58 | #679 |
| 2010s | #55 | #230 |
| 2020s | #50 | #43 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Charles
- Canada#30
- France#52
Maverick
- Canada#32
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Charles
Free man
From Germanic karl, 'free man' — a man who was neither noble nor serf. The same root gave English 'churl', which drifted toward insult while Charles went the other way entirely.
Karl → Carolus → Charles → Charlie → Charlotte
How it traveled
The Germanic name Karl was carried by the Frankish ruler known to history as Charlemagne, whose reign around the turn of the ninth century fixed the name in European royalty for a thousand years. Through Old French it became Charles, and it entered England properly with the Stuart kings in the seventeenth century, after which it spread widely among English speakers.
Maverick
an unbranded calf; by extension, an independent-minded person
The word is traced to Samuel A. Maverick, a nineteenth-century Texas rancher whose cattle went unbranded; unclaimed strays came to be called mavericks, and the sense of a person who refuses to run with the herd followed. What is less settled is the older history of the surname itself before it reached Texas.
Maverick (English surname) → maverick (American English word for an unbranded calf) → maverick (an independent-minded person) → Maverick (given name)
How it traveled
The path runs from surname to common noun and back to given name, which is unusual and well documented. Maverick was an English surname carried to America in the colonial period; in nineteenth-century Texas it attached to unbranded cattle, and from there to people who went their own way, a sense American political writing still uses.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Charles
CHARLZ
One syllable in English. The French Charles is roughly SHARL, which is worth knowing if the name has family roots there.
- Charlie — The most widespread short form, and long established as an independent given name for boys and girls alike.
- Chuck — An American informal form, strongest among men born in the middle of the twentieth century.
- Chas — A clipped written form, often used as a signature or in casual address.
- Carl — Related through the Germanic root; used as a standalone name more often than as a nickname.
- Also Chip.
Maverick
MAV-uh-rik
Stress on the first syllable. Many speakers compress the middle vowel to two beats, MAV-rik, exactly as they do with the ordinary word.
- Mav — The standard short form, informal, used by family and teammates; rarely seen on paperwork.
- Rick — Taken from the second half; a long-established given name in its own right, so it reads older and more formal than Mav.
- Ricky — Informal, also a stand-alone name; more often chosen by relatives than by the child himself.
Who has carried each name
Charles
Charles Darwin (b. 1809) — On the Origin of Species changed science forever
Charles Dickens (b. 1812) — Created Scrooge, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol
Charles III (b. 1948) — King of the United Kingdom
Maverick
No documented entry for Maverick yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Charles if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesCharles is 1 syllable to Maverick's 3
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Charlie, Chuck and Chas
- a name that charts abroad tooCharles is on the national lists of Canada and France
- a long American recordCharles was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Maverick if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMaverick runs 3 syllables, Charles 1
- a newer arrivalMaverick entered the US charts in 1957
- a name that feels very nowMaverick is holding its place on the charts
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Charles
Strengths
- Universally recognized spelling in English — almost never needs to be repeated or clarified.
- Several long-established short forms, from the friendly Charlie to the brisk Chuck, so the name flexes across a lifetime.
- Direct equivalents in Spanish, German, Italian, Polish and French, which travels well in multilingual families.
To consider
- Strongly represented among older generations, so it may read as an inherited name rather than a new one — though that has not stopped it from continuing to be given.
- Charlie is now common for girls as well as boys, which means the nickname is less gender-specific than the full name.
- Chuck has a distinctly mid-century American flavor and may not be a short form you want; if so, it helps to establish Charlie early.
Maverick
Strengths
- Spelled the way the English word is spelled, so most people get it right on first hearing without being told.
- One pronunciation, first-syllable stress, and no silent letters to explain.
- A ready-made short form in Mav, plus Rick and Ricky from the second half.
To consider
- The word meaning is loud and instantly understood in English. People will hear "nonconformist" before they hear a name, and some will make a Top Gun remark.
- Its use as a given name is recent, so there are few adult Mavericks; the name will read as young for another few decades yet.
- There is no traditional formal variant to fall back on if the bearer ever wants something quieter on a résumé — the options are Maverick or a nickname.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Charles
12%chance Charles feels dated by 2040
Charles has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Maverick
40%chance Maverick feels dated by 2040
Maverick sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Charles and Maverick in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Charles and Maverick?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Charles and Maverick — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Charles or Maverick — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Charles or Maverick?
- Charles, in 2025: Charles ranked #48 with 5,898 babies; Maverick ranked #49 with 5,894 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Charles or Maverick?
- Maverick. Over the last five years Charles moved down 2 places; Maverick moved up 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Charles or Maverick?
- Charles was already in use when US records began in 1880; Maverick entered the US charts in 1957. On the American record, Charles is the older name.
- How many people are named Charles and Maverick?
- About 1,242,000 people named Charles are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 70,000 people named Maverick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Charless or Mavericks in the classroom?
- Charles will almost certainly be the only one in school. Maverick will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Charles, Maverick and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap